Assassin's Heart
by Queen of the Squares
Summary: Takaki Amaterasu was raised in Naibongakure, a small village in between Suna and Iwa. Living in a town that is hard-core assassin, she is given a strange job at the age of 9. Not the normal job for a young assassin, she is sent to guard Gaara. NonMarysue
1. Chapter 1

_**S/N: Hi, New story, yay! It's been in my brain for a while, so I decided to write it. Ok, so in case you're wondering about the italics that will only be when they are in Naibungakure, everywhere else, it will be normal. **_

_**Otou-san: Father**_

_**Okaa-san: Mother**_

_**-Nii/Onii: Brother**_

_**-Sama: Lord/Lady**_

_**Senpai: Superior**_

_**-San: Formal suffix, for those you don't know very well.**_

_**-Chan: Non-formal suffix, for a girl you know/are friends with/ have any type of relationship with. One you know well**_

_**-Kun: Non-formal suffix, for boy you know/are friends with/ have any type of relationship with. One you know well**_

_**Musume: Daughter**_

_**Musuko: Son**_

_**Taiji: Unborn baby**_

* * *

><p><em>Pointing tree branches whipped into my face, tearing at my skin. Blood spilled down my shoulder, my arm limp with pain. I jumped from limb to limb, trying to survive. The shadowy figures behind me continued to follow. I snapped my head back, trying to catch a glimpse of them. My trained eyes saw movement to the side and, with my good arm, threw some kunai into the branches. I leaped down and landed on the ground, spinning on my heel, I turned, my hand in a defensive position. My bow and arrows would be of no use with only one good arm. My rivals landed in front of me, they stood up, different types of masks obscuring their faces. <em>

"_You have done well, Amaterasu." The tall, lean male told me. His mask obscuring his whole face, it was dark green, and only had a see through part for his eyes. Although he could see out, no one could see in. _

"_Ama-chan, I am proud." The slightly shorter, thin male informed me. He mask covered the top half of his face, leaving his mouth seen. I bowed my head in respect. _

"_Thank you, Otou-san," I bowed to the tallest, "And Shiro-nii." I said to the shorter one._

"_Let's go back to the village." Otou-san said to my brother and I. _

_We lived in Naibungakure, the Village Hidden in the Secrets. It's location, between the Country of Earth and the Country of Wind, a ways away from the Country of Rain. The top of my face burned with scratches from the trees, but the bottom half, which was obscured by my black mask was safe, it also covered my neck, made into my white kimono top, that was opened on the sides, revealing the black shorts underneath, so it couldn't be torn away, revealing my identity. The sleeves were very long, falling farther than my arm length._

_No village besides Sunagakure knows of our existence. They call us barbaric because we do not allow civilians, all of us in our small village are either Jounin assassins, Chuunin assassins, or Gennin assassins. Although, we did have a few ANBU level assassins, we were more skilled in stealth and spying than in the other ninja arts. We learned the same jutsu's, but, we had different training methods. The separate clans trained the successors, in this case, Shiro-nii and me. We did, however, have another sibling on the way. My Okaa-san was out of duty while pregnant. She was a Jounin level assassin, one of the best. _

_Otou-san, Shiro-nii, and I ran through the forest, to Naibun. My arm was still injured, but we did have medics, just like the other ninja villages, but ours were better. As most villages just used them for hospital, and when on missions protected, ours were well versed in battle, able to hold their own with vast amounts of chakra. Shiro-nii dropped back beside me, his mouth frowning. _

"_Is your arm ok, imouto?" He asked me. _

_I glanced up at him, "Nothing a medic can't heal, as well as the cuts on my face." _

"_Okaa-san will be worried that Otou-san is working you too hard." Shiro-nii told me. I looked ahead at the back of my Otou-san. _

"_I'm fine, Shiro-nii. Don't worry. I'll tell Okaa-san not to worry either." I told him. His hand went up, and ran through his thick white locks. We both inherited the trait from our mother, it was common in our village, we migrated from the mountainous regions, on the border of the Country of Ice. When Rikkagakure had found out we were there, we had high-tailed it out, not making contact and moved far away, to this territory. We then had a change of leader, gaining a new Morikage, Junchi-sama. It was fairly recent, the migration, but was still before Shiro-nii was born, he's 13._

"_Don't expect her to believe you, imouto, you know how Okaa-san gets." He reminded me and I grimaced, the expression only shown by the narrowing of my eyebrows, my mask hiding the rest of the expression. Okaa-san is scary when she's worried, and with the raise in hormones coming from pregnancy, it will only be worse._

"_I know. I remember what it was like when you took the Chuunin exams." I said. We had inner village exams, seeing as how only one of the ninja villages knows we exist. _

"_Just think about how bad it will be for you!" Shiro-nii laughed._

"_Stop lollygagging and keep up the pace!" Otou-san barked from up ahead. Instantly, not wanting to be in the path of his wrath, we ran faster, trying to catch up with our ANBU level Otou-san. Our feet hit the ground silently, training for stealth._

_**~*U*~**_

_We arrived back in the village, not having built the big gates and watch towers like the other villages. Slowing down to a steady walk, we came into the edges. Our village was made in a circular formation, and the houses were by clans. On the outer ring was the Kobayashi, they were the largest clan, repopulating at a terrifyingly swift rate. They protected the outside, the first defense. We came through the opening, the only hole between the interlacing dens. Our homes weren't like regular houses. They were made of branches and vines, brambles and stones for foundation. We still had different rooms, but it blended into nature better this way._

"_Takaki-san." A gruff voice sounded from the side. A muscular man, even taller than Otou-san stepped in front of us. Strips of fabric covered his face._

"_Kobayashi-san." Otou-san replied formally._

"_State your being here." The head of the Kobayashi clan demanded._

"_I was training." Otou-san answered._

"_Who are these?" Kobayashi-san asked._

"_My son, Takaki Toshiro and my daughter, Takaki Amaterasu, I was training them." Otou-san informed the other man._

"_You may pass through." Kobayashi-san told us._

"_Arigato gozimasu, Kobayashi-san." I said, bowing my head to the older man._

"_At least one of you Takaki's has manners, she must get if from Akane-chan." Kobayashi-san said. My eyes widened, but I kept my head down, how did he know my Okaa-san? They were the same age, but we don't have Academies like the other villages do._

_Otou-san growled, but kept walking, not picking a fight. I glanced up at Shiro-nii and followed after my father. He kept his head forward, not looking at me or Shiro-nii as we drew even with him. His head was erect and proud as we reached the next layer, the Inoue's. Meeting no trouble from them, we kept on. Our clan was relatively the smallest, meaning it was one of the inner rings, then on the inside of that was the town. We had the stores and in the center the Morikage's residence. After 45 minutes of walking, we finally reached our clan's circle. _

_Because of our kekkei genkai, few of the Takaki's survived through childhood. Even fewer were able to activate the kekkei genkai. It usually activates at the age of 13, and Shiro-nii's is already coming in. The kekkei genkai is very broad, ranging to many different things. From controlling the elements, to invading and controlling one's mind, while having control of your own body, it was very spread. _

"_Akane-chan, we're home." Otou-san called out. Okaa-san came around the wall of the den, her hand on her enlarged stomach, her long white hair down and slightly wavy, almost to the floor. Her gray eyes were warm, but hardened as they took in my injuries. She made her way over to me swift and graceful, even though she was with child. _

"_Musume!" She placed her pale hand on my shoulder which was covered in dried blood, "Haruto-kun, what did you do to our musume?" My Otou-san's blue gaze observed my fretting Okaa-san and my arm._

"_It was training, Akane-chan. Take her to a medic, it will be fine." He said. Okaa-san scowled, anger clear on her face._

"_Takaki Haruto, you take care of my musume, right now." She growled, glaring at Otou-san._

"_I will, Akane-chan. I'll take her." He stated. Okaa-san nodded, her lips drawn into a thin line, then turned to Shiro-nii._

"_Shiro-musuko, go get the medic." Okaa-san commanded. My brother nodded and ran out of the den._

"_Why the rush?" Otou-san asked my mother. _

"_Junchi-sama came here today, he has a mission for Amaterasu-musume." Okaa-san said, wringing her hands, "He wants to see her as soon as possible; that is why she must be healed as fast as can be."_

"_I see, Amaterasu-musume, go get ready, the medic should arrive shortly." Otou-san commanded and I nodded once, then rushed off. My chakra was already low from training, I'll have to take it easy. I packed my ninja tools, as well as restocked my arrows. I grabbed an herb bag, making sure that the herbs were safe to use, then tied a pouch with poison to my arm, hidden under the overly long sleeve._

_After stocking up on some more things, I went back downstairs to see the medic arriving. I sat down on the moss-mat and watched as the medic began to heal me. Warmth flooded into the long gash on my shoulder as the green light surrounding her hands fixed the damage done to my body. Once done, they moved their hands to my face, beginning to heal the cuts so that I wouldn't run the risk of infection. _

"_You are healed." The medic told me and then leaped out. _

"_Come, I'll take you to the Morikage." Otou-san said. _

"_Arigato." I said and followed him out. _

_As we walked, my father began to talk, this odd behavior, "Now remember, as an assassin, you must kill without hesitation. Make it clean, there is no need for unnecessary bloodshed. Clean kills make it harder for the ANBU to decipher what happened to the body. If your identity is revealed, kill everyone in the area. If you are captured, never break in interrogation." _

"_Yes, sir." I said, grateful for the advice. _

_With that, we again ran to the Morikage's office. Located in the middle of the village, and one of the more, higher established buildings, it was easy to see it. _

"_Come in!" Junchi-sama's deep, commanding voice came from inside. We entered and I saw our Morikage. He had mid length hair brown that was tied into a low ponytail. His brown eyes had slight wrinkles surrounding them, and his face set into a permanent grim expression, "Takaki Amaterasu, I have a mission for you. Takaki Haruto, you will need to leave." My father bowed and did as asked, leaving me alone with the old man. "Takaki-san, you have been hired for a strange job. Not an assassination mission, but one of protection from assassins. In Sunagakure, the Kazekage has a musuko named Gaara, he is a Jinchuuriki. I have not been given all of the details, but many people are hired to kill him. He usually kills them."_

"_Gomensai for my rudeness, but, if he can take care of himself, why am I needed?" I asked._

"_The Kazekage doesn't appreciate the attacks on his musuko, and his musuko having to keep his guard up at all times. That's why we are sending you. You are the same age, 9, and we have thought that you would get along the best. You are to leave for Sunagakure immediately. Your Otou-san will accompany you there." Junchi-sama informed me, "I have already spoken to your Okaa-san about the mission, and I have assumed that she has filled him in. Takaki Haruto, enter." _

_My Otou-san walked in, his long gray hair swaying in its high ponytail, "Junchi-sama, we are ready to depart." _

"_Fantastic, you are dismissed." The Morikage said. _

_With that, Otou-san and I ran out of the village and towards the desert. _

**~*U*~**

The blistering heat beat down on me, making me sweat, my mask sticking to my face uncomfortably. Luckily, heat bounces off of white fabric, so I was cooler. However, my exposed skin was turning red, burning from the heat. It's impossible for me to grasp why people would dwell in the desert.

Otou-san and I had been traveling for days, my chakra still hasn't fully recharged yet, making me less stamina-wise.

"When will we arrive, Otou-san?" I asked, looking at my Otou-san. He turned his mask covered face to me.

"We're only a few hours away. If you watch the horizon, you will soon see the outline of Sunagakure." He answered.

From that moment on, I kept my eyes forward, nervous for what was about to await me.

**~*U*~**

Just as Otou-san had told me, Sunagakure was a bump on the horizon. It was getting to be sunset, and we poured on the speed so we could reach the gates before nightfall.

We achieved our goal, and reached the outer gates. Sentries eyed us, "What is your business here?" One voiced.

"We are from Naibungakure, and have come to deliver something to the Kazekage. He has asked of our assistance, and we are going to give it." Otou-san's commanding and powerful voice even louder in the quiet desert.

"Oh! The Kazekage would like to meet you at the gates, we weren't expecting you this early,-Hayoto-kun! Go get the Kazekage- I'm very sorry about this, um, what's your name?" I could see Otou-san stiffen imperceptibly.

"That is none of your concern, only the Kazekage is allowed to know of our identities." Otou-san told the sentry.

"That-" the sentry was cut off.

"I see, the ninja of Naibungakure have arrived. Which of you will fulfill the request?" A man which I guessed was the Kazekage asked, walking out of the shadow. Beside him was a smaller figure, a gourd on his back.

"We will tell you of this in privacy." Otou-san told the man. "But, my daughter, has been the one sent." Otou-san put his hand on my shoulder.

"I see, you will come with us to my office then." The Kazekage said, turning around. Otou-san and I followed, entering the entrancing desert city, Sunagakure. We followed behind the Kazekage and the boy, my deductive reasoning skills coming to the conclusion that he is Gaara. Not what I expected, with his flaming red hair, strange colored eyes rimmed with black and his blank expression.

We came upon a tall building, and began to walk to the upper floor, and into a small, humble room.

"This is my office, we are in private. You may reveal yourselves now." The Kazekage informed us. My father nodded.

"My name is Takaki Haruto, and this is my daughter, Takaki Amaterasu. She has been hired and sent at your request." Otou-san informed them.

"Takaki-san, why won't you take off your mask. We are in private, and no one will be able to see." The Kazekage asked.

Otou-san chuckled, "An assassin never reveals themselves."

"But you have just told me who you are."

"Yes, but what's a name? If you see me without a mask, you won't know who I am. That's how we keep ourselves secret. An assassin's most prized possession is their mask, the thing that keeps them safe. For years we have kept our village a secret, moving when even _one _person we don't want to know we exist finds us. You are lucky to even know about Naibungakure. I will not show you my face, we only will take off our masks at home, not even to go around our own village. You never know when their might be a traitor in the midst." Otou-san explained.

"I see, are you going to stay in Suna for the night?" The Kazekage asked.

"No, I'm heading back to Naibun once I say my goodbyes to my daughter. I have to get home, my wife is eight months pregnant, and I have to be there, just in case the taiji is born premature." Otou-san stated proudly.

"Then you are leaving?"

"Yes." Turning to me, he bent down, "Musume, I don't know when I'll see you next, but, when I do, I know you will have progressed into a fine shinobi." I nodded, pressure building behind my eyes, not knowing when I'd see my Otou-san again.

"Yes, Otou-san. Goodbye." I said. He put his hand on my head and stood up.

"Goodbye, Amaterasu-musume." Then my father disappeared in a flash of dark green light.

I turned back to the Kazekage and his musuko.

"Takaki-san, you are to stay with Gaara at all times, never stray from his side. Are you immune to poisons?" He asked me.

I nodded, "Yes, sir, as an assassin, we devour poisons so that we aren't affected by them." I answer, remembering when my Okaa-san would feed me them.

"Good, then you will also make sure his food isn't poisoned. For your services, we will provide you with food, money, and living arrangements."

"By 'living arrangements' you mean I am to live pretty much where ever he is, right?" I asked, pointing to the redhead.

"Yes, that is correct." The Kazekage answered.

"Alright then." I said, feeling weariness in my limbs. I'm very tired.

"Gaara, escort Takaki-san to your room, she will sleep there." The Kazekage ordered his son. Gaara just stared, glaring at his Otou-san, "Please?" Kazekage-sama added.

Gaara didn't answer, but walked out of the room. I followed him, drawing even, matching his pace. We were the same height, making talking easier in my mind. I hate to look up to the people I'm speaking to.

"Hi." I say, trying to get Gaara to talk. It doesn't work.

I sighed, "You do know that since we are going to be spending so much time together, we'll have to reach at least get along a little bit! And by 'a little bit', I mean you have to talk to me!"

He says nothing.

"Oh come on! I'm going to protect you from evil people, and all you have to say is nothing! Geez! Even my _Otou-san _isn't this quiet! And he rarely talks!"

Still nothing.

"I'm getting annoyed, now!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms over my chest and narrowing my gray eyes.

"You're annoying." He said in a rough voice.

"Whoa… you talked… Cool." I said, keeping a steady pace, "You know, back in Naibun, everything is so quiet. I guess I was just hoping that here I could talk without getting in trouble. And I thought that you would talk back. You know, you're not what I expected at all."

"…What did you… expect?" He asked me, glancing.

"Well, I've never seen anyone with red hair before. I mean, in Naibun, you either have white or gray hair. And I've never seen anyone with your eye color either. It's really cool, a mix of blue and green, but really, really, really, light colored. And the black around your eyes brings it out. I don't really know what I expected… maybe I wasn't expecting anything, which is why you weren't what I expected? I don't really know. All I knew was that I was supposed to protect you. I thought it was just going to be a business thing, but I've decided that, since your pretty cool, I'll be your friend." I rambled.

Gaara stiffened, "Friend? I live for only myself. I love only myself."

I was thrown for a loop, but after a while came up with a reply, naïve, but still a reply, "That may be true for you, but that's not for me."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Great ending note, ne~? Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. <em>**

**_S/N: Ugh, I know, I made Amaterasu seem so much older than she actually is. I'm not very happy about that, but it will have to work. I was in a fancy word mindset at the time and it just sort of came out. Plus, I haven't been 9 in a while, so I lost how they think. Much different than a teenager. I hope I redeemed myself at the end with the change in wording and stuff, I actually rewrote it a few times, so I think I got it right. I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter. And I'm sorry if she seems Marysue because she's to smart for her age, but, I just need to get used to writing as a younger person I guess. I worked very hard on this. I'm trying out a new style, adding in the Japanese words, tell me if you like!_**

**_And you Vocaloid/Utao fans, do you think I should write a Vocaloid fic? I've been wanting to, but have been very busy. _**

**_It's now 10:05 pm and I'm going on about 2-3 hours of sleep.  
><em>**

**_My friend, Mad Zia spent the night and I, being nocturnal and not getting much sleep anyways, was awake until roughly, 6:53 am when Mad Zia finally woke up. I then slept until I was woken at 10 am to go to a Halloween fair thing in Royse City, Texas. It was fun, Mad Zia owes me money, I want my money back, and now I'm not tired because I took a shower and the water woke me up._**

**_You probably don't really care, and tuned out earlier, so with that:_**

**_Sayonara, _**

**_StellaM._**


	2. Chapter 2

That was three years ago. Now, Gaara is 13, while I am 12. His birthday is before mine. I was never put into the Academy officially, I was only there because of Gaara, but the Kazekage put me on a team anyways. My sensei is beautiful (much more than me, she's my idol), long wavy brown hair and chartreuse eyes, her name is Sasaki Midori, and she specializes in wind style Jutsu, and excels in all of the ninja arts, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu. My teammates are Kichida Yasu, he has short black hair that fans across his brow and dark gray eyes that almost look black, he is especially good at Genjutsu. Kichida-san is very reserved, he doesn't speak much. On the other hand, Nakashima Isamu, my other teammate is loud and chatters. He has long thunder cloud gray hair and light brown eyes.

Gaara and my relationship hasn't gotten worse, but it has gotten slightly better, if I can say that. He hasn't killed me, and talks to me the most out of anyone, minus Shukaku of course, but that was a given.

"Takaki-san!" Isamu called from behind me. I was walking beside Gaara on the dusty streets of Suna. I looked over my shoulder. I had sensed that someone was following us.

"What is it, Isamu-san?" I asked him. He, of course, wouldn't come any closer, the sands shifting, rising up slightly around my feet as we stopped.

Gaara saw me as his. Not anyone else's. I'm surprisingly ok with this fact. It's not like I can leave him alone anyways.

"Come here, I need to talk to you!" Nakashima said.

"Look, I'm kind of busy." I told him.

Isamu looked strained, "I- it's about training. Midori-sensei told me to tell you and Yasu-san that she's enrolling us for the Chuunin Exams. We need to meet with Kazekage-sama this afternoon at one."

I, of course, knew that we definitely were going to the Chuunin Exams, seeing as how I had to be with Gaara at all times. But, I'd let Isamu have his fun, I raised my eyebrows, the only thing that displayed emotion. My mask covered the rest of it up, "Really? That's cool, Isamu-san. I'll be sure to meet you three there!"

"Alright, be careful, Ama-san."

"Don't worry about me." I said. He didn't have to, really, Gaara hasn't killed me yet, and I've been through three years of full moons with him.

Nakashima Isamu walked away and to a weapon store.

"Gaara, are you ok?" I asked, the sand hadn't receded yet.

"I don't like him." He said quietly, but he's always quiet.

"You know, I like you, but, you just have to deal with it. He's my teammate, and I can't do anything about it. Besides, we'll be out of here tomorrow night." I said, he glanced at me.

"…True, we will go away."

"Just me and you, and the desert sky… it sounds so…" I really wanted to insert romantic, but, that wouldn't work, not with Gaara's state of mind. Even if he treats me better than everyone else, it's not love. He _tolerates_ me. It's a grudging tolerance. And that's only because he has to, "nice." I finished.

Gaara didn't say anything in return. He only really talked when we were alone on the roof, when Sunagakure is sleeping.

"I do need to get a few things, if you don't mind." I said quickly, I was running low on kunai.

"What do you need?" Gaara asked me.

_You-_

What the-? That's a completely random thought. It doesn't mean anything, at all. Although, I'd had thoughts like that before.

"U-Um, I'm almost out of kunai." I told him. The sun made his hair look like a flame. My mouth suddenly felt dry.

"Hn." He said, looking at me with his light eyes.

"We could, um, go to the, um, weapons store…" I said, quietly, looking away, not able to meet his eyes for once. I tried to turn away, but Gaara's sand was still blocking my way back, "It's that way."

"I know, but _he's _in there."

"So?"

"I'm restraining myself from killing your teammate."

"Isamu's cool, though!" I stated.

"Even Shukaku doesn't find him interesting."

"And by interesting you mean kill-worthy, right?" I asked.

Gaara didn't respond, and so we kept walking. He is my weakness. If Gaara wants something, I'll do it. Anything at all. My Achilles heel.

Together we walked into a clothing store.

"Gaara, you really should get a larger variety of clothing." I informed him, "I mean, you never change, unless you take a shower, but even then you put on the same clothes. Cologne will only get you so far. Why don't you just, get some night clothes?" I asked him.

"I don't sleep, therefore I am in no need of them."

"Well, yeah, but, you should still have some. Just think, sitting out on the roof, staring at the moon all thoughtful like… but, you can be comfortable… in… these night clothes! Oh~ Ah~!" I said, pulling a black pair of male lose pants and a loose black long sleeved shirt.

"No."

"Come on, it's your color!" I said, gesturing to his black clothing. He continued to glare at the garment in my hands. I put it back on the rack and continued to look, "Alright… what about this!" I pulled out brown long male pants and a brown short sleeved shirt.

"No."

"Kami-sama, Gaara-kun. You're so picky." I grumbled.

He didn't respond, as usual, but walked farther down the rack and pointed. I looked, "This?" I asked.

Gaara nodded.

"Well… as long as you like it…" I said, I pulled money out of my kimono. I had inside pockets all over. It comes with being an assassin.

"I'll pay." He said. I looked up at his retreating figure and put my money back.

"Gaara-kun! Wait for me!" I cried, trotting after him. I caught up before he got to the counter, "Gaara, let me buy it."

"Amaterasu-chan." He said, keeping hold of the garment.

"Look, Gaara-kun, you're awesome, but, you know how the people of Suna see you. It's just- I mean- Ok. _I _know you aren't a monster, but _they _don't know that, and trust me, it's going to take more than a purchase to convince someone of that."

"I don't understand."

"It takes a while for people to trust someone they don't know very well-"

"No. Why don't you see me the way others do? I killed the woman who gave birth to me. You've seen me murder citizens. Why…?"

"Because, first off, I don't like the people here anymore than you do. Second, how many times do I have to tell you this? Tons of mothers die in child birth, especially in my clan, and thirdly, it's because everyone has a person that loves them, and I guess that I'm your person. In a totally friendship way, of course." I told him, "Now, will you let me buy it?"

Gaara looked like he wanted to say something in response, but only replied with an "Hn," in assent. I smiled and took the money from him, as well as the clothes. I jogged around racks and spotted the desk. It was at the far back, and was out of eyesight.

"I'd like to buy these." I said, my voice sounding weird coming out of my mask.

"For your boyfriend?" The lady asked.

"Um, no. It's for my… friend." I told her, not sure if I was able to call Gaara a friend, but, it's not like I could say, 'Oh, I'm buying this for the demon of Suna!', now could I?

"Alright, that will be 1151.55 yen _**(S/N: That's equal to 15 US dollars, guys.)**_." She told me. I gave her the money.

"Thank you." I said then ran back to Gaara, I have to be with him at all times. There are just some situations that he can't come to. I found him in the same place I had left him.

"Now can we go to the weapons store?" I asked.

Gaara 'Hn'ed, but other than that didn't really respond. He instead walked out and I followed.

_**~*U*~**_

When we had reached the store, I was already getting hot in the afternoon sun. I sighed as cold air hit me –even if it was just the exposed skin on my face.

"Get out of my store," a gruff, unreasonable voice said. I looked up, my hand involuntarily twitching, almost activating my chakra-blade –a skill that Naibun was famous for. He had stubble littering his tanned chin and was wearing glasses, with a green bandana over his most likely bald scalp.

"Why?" I asked.

"Not you," he replied, then pointed at Gaara, "the demon."

I moved between them, "Hey, just let me buy some kunai and we'll be out of your hair, alright?"

"No. He's bad for business."

"You don't understand…" I trailed off. An assassin never reveals their mission. Only the Kazekage, Temari-san, Kankuro-san, as well as Midori-sensei knew the real reason I was here.

"Then make me understand why _that_ has to be in here while you shop," he said stubbornly.

"Because I…" I stopped, my brain not thinking of lie to say other than that he was my boyfriend or something of the sort that would most likely get me killed gruesomely. I sighed, rubbing my brow, "You know what? Just deliver, um, 40 kunai to the Kazekage tower under the name of Takaki Amaterasu before 5 this evening. That's when I'll be leaving on a mission."

He nodded, "I'll get one of my employee's to deliver."

"Doumo arigato gozimasu," I said, then quickly spun around, shooting Gaara a look. We left the store and started to walk back up to the tower.

"You need to work on not slipping up, Ama-chan," Gaara informed me.

I nodded, my eyes glancing up at him, "Yeah, thanks, Gaara-kun."

Things for me had started to get awkward recently around Gaara after a really… weird… dream when I fell asleep on the job. I won't even go into it. But, after that, it was hard to still be around him and it was so difficult not to go running back to Naibun with my tail between my legs, so to speak. The only reason why I didn't was because I confided in Temari and she told me that even though it was weird I dreamed about her little brother, it was normal for girls to have dreams like that. I tried to ignore it and began start taking my wake-up medicine that I had been given when I started this mission. It was full of caffeine and kept me up at night.

"I'm kind of hungry," I said, noticing the nagging pain in my stomach. I hadn't eaten dinner or breakfast this morning.

"Then eat," Gaara said.

I frowned, although the expression was lost in my dark mask, "You'll have to come with me, unless I make something back at the mansion."

"We'll go get ramen," Gaara told me, taking charge like normal. I couldn't tell him what to do –which frustrated me to no end since I thought that because _I_ was taking care of _him_, _I_'d get some say in what he did. But, I don't, unless I make it _seem_ that he was making the decision himself, which usually meant I had to make a broad statement and gently nag to get my way.

I smiled, this was once again not noted, most likely because it couldn't be seen, "Arigato." I always made sure that my appreciation was shown. My mother, Takaki Akane, said that this was important when dealing with others that weren't from Naibun. According to her, it would make them trust you.

Gaara didn't reply, it wasn't in his nature to say something back to words as trivial as, 'Arigato'.

The ramen stand wasn't far away, it was called 'Kazami-chan's Ramen!'. And it's where we received ours back in Naibun. We sat down and I ordered the miso soup. In a matter of a few minutes it was served. I broke my chopsticks, muttering, 'Itadakimasu' then proceeded to drink the liquid out of the bowl as if it were a cup and started on the solid pieces of food with my chopsticks. I stuffed the food down my throat, noticing how Gaara glared at Kazami openly, the sand in the air around him shifting slightly towards her. I finished quickly, almost chocking on the last piece before quickly saying, 'Gochiosama deshita', and got out as fast as I could. Then remembered I hadn't paid and through the money onto the table and stepped out once more into the sweltering heat.

"That was great, arigato Gaara-kun," I said gratefully, bowing my head slightly.

"Hn," he grunted in response.

My nose scrunched in displeasure, "How many times have I told you that, 'Hn' is not a way to communicate?"

Gaara looked at me and said, 'Hn' again. I made a sound of exasperation.

"You do this to get on my nerves, don't you?"

"Hn."

"So you that meant, yes, right?"

"Hn."

I growled, "We should just get back to the tower. I need to meet my team for the interview with your father."

He grunted in response, the air around him darkening even more than usual at the mention of his dad. I didn't understand the exact relationship between the two –most likely because Gaara doesn't like to talk about it and I never saw the Kazekage and it would very awkward to ask. It's not like I could go up to him and ask why he had screwed up his son so bad. That would just be rude, and the Kazekage is taking care of me. He hired me as a cold assassin, and that's what I have to be. I can't go weak in the knees for Gaara every time I see him and want to help the redhead with all his problems.

This is the kind of thing I was talking about! The weird thoughts that shouldn't be there but are!

At least it wasn't as freaky as that dream…

My stomach started to churn –but in a good way, as I looked up at said redhead. Oh… _bad_ direction of thoughts. Bad! Bad! Bad!

_Man, I need a distraction-_

"I'm excited about the Chuunin exams, aren't you?" I asked a little to happily.

"Sure," he replied monotonously, his expression blank.

I sighed. It's not like he's going to anyways. He never gets excited about anything –not even his own birthday. It had been a little while ago, and he just _glared_ at me when I tried to wish him well. He pulled the old, 'I live only for myself,' speech and left it at that –much to my disliking. He always runs away! Every time I tried to do something nice for the guy, he just says how he doesn't need me. I'm not saying he does, I'm just saying that I feel unappreciated! I wasted my first kill on this guy! …Of course right after I used my Chakra-Blade I passed out because I was too weak to stay conscious. But that fact is irrelevant.

Together we walked into the Tower, and I located my team's chakra (Ok, Sasaki-sensei's chakra, but who's to judge?). We walked over to them and I saw my sensei stiffen slightly. Her long caramel hair was pulled up into a high braid and she gripped Isamu's shoulder, her knuckles white as she gazed at Gaara.

Isamu understood, for a goofball he's really smart and seems to have a deep knowing, "Hey, Takaki-san!"

"Ama-chan," Yasu acknowledged, his eyes glancing over the two of us, "Sabaku." It delighted me greatly that Yasu had said something to Gaara. The jinchuuriki grunted, his arms tightening over his chest. I stepped closer to him, lightly brushing his side.

"Hi guys," I said, grinning at them, although they could probably only tell by the tightening of skin around my eyes. Isamu beamed brightly back, his teeth shining, but he didn't step forward.

"How was your day, Takaki-san?"

"It was great, I had a lot of fun. How about you?"

"Awesome…!"

"Alright, well," Midori-sensei cleared her throat, "it's time for our meeting. We should head over now. I take it he's coming with us?"

She directed the question at me, so I replied accordingly with a nod of my head, "Yeah, sensei."

Isamu let out a breath. I could tell he wasn't happy with this. Nakashima Isamu wasn't very… fond of Gaara, he was one of the kids that had bullied him when they were younger. Even though he told me that he was just doing what his older brother said, I could tell that there was darkness there –and so could everyone else. On a scale of hatred for the demon-host with everyone else, Isamu outweighed them all. I liked him as a person, but that didn't mean I liked how rude he was to Gaara.

_**~*U*~**_

Once we got to his office, the Kazekage began to speak, wasting no time.

"Sasaki Midori, you have entered your team into consideration for the Chuunin Exams, correct?" he asked, looking over a paper.

"Yes," she answered confidently, her back straight. I want to be just like Midori-sensei. She's so calm, even when she should be nervous –and she awesome at all the ninja arts. She's also engaged and a really cool person, "These are Nakashima Isamu, Kichida Yasu, and Takaki Amaterasu."

"Nakashima-san, it says here that you are well versed in Taijutsu as well as Earth-style Ninjutsu."

"Yes, Kazekage-sama," Isamu answered, fidgeting slightly. The only one out of my team that seemed calm –besides sensei –was Yasu.

"Sasaki-san, do you believe his skills would be useful to the team at the Exams?"

"Hai," she answered not taking her eyes off of the Kazekage, "Nakashima is very advanced for his age, and I have already begun to teach him older techniques."

The Kazekage grunted in assent and turned to Yasu, "Kichida-san, has your kekkei genkai been developing thoroughly?"

"Yes, the illusion is coming in swiftly, sir," Yasu told him, "I have trained it so much, that I am able to make my victims die of thirst. As well as make them feel as if they are being burned into nothingness by the sun."

"I see, very good, Kichida-san. You will do fine in the Exams," then he turned to me, "Takaki-san, how has your training been going? You haven't been telling me about it as often anymore."

It was common knowledge that I lived with the Kazekage and his children, but I didn't like it thrown in their faces. I stiffened, keeping my face blank, "My training has been going very well sir, I am able to shoot paralyzing chakra out of my blade without passing out. I am also excelling in Taijutsu and Kichida-san is helping me with Genjutsu." I almost cringed at the lie. I'm not good at Genjutsu at all, and I can barely manage, and my Taijutsu needs a lot of work, but he doesn't need to know that. My best asset is my chakra control and that my kekkei genkai will come in soon, which is why Gaara and I have to leave tomorrow. It takes a week to get from Sunagakure to Naibun, and my birthday is in 13 days.

"Hm, I see, I will go over the information and then tell your sensei whether you are able to participate or not," he dismissed us and I quickly got out of the stuffy office.

It was only 1:39pm, but I was feeling exhausted, as if I had been on an adrenaline high and then crashed. That's most likely it. When I'm out with Gaara, my guards always up, and I always have my chakra flowing twenty miles a minute, just in case. Even though the enemy assassins usually only strike at night. I bid my team goodbye and began to head up to Gaara and my room. I opened the door and grabbed my own pajamas. I walked into the closet and changed. I walked back out, my sleeping mask already in place –instead of being attached to my under armor like I usually have it, it's just held up my a string that ties around the back of my head and is under my hair. I yanked the hair tie out of my tresses and then walked back out, throwing my dirty clothes into the hamper.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Gaara asked, looking at my loose black shorts that went down to my knees and my loose black tank top.

"I'm tired," I answered, crawling over the bed to close the shades over the window, "Can you get that light?" Gaara used his sand to flip the light switched, plunging the room into semi-darkness. I crawled under the covers, sighing as the cold fabric drew over my warm skin.

Gaara walked over and I saw him looking down at me. There was only one bed in the room since the Kazekage knew Gaara didn't sleep. So, when I needed rest, I would sleep and Gaara would sit next to me, or I'd nap on the roof and he'd stare at the sky like he normally did. But, it goes to say that I'd usually let him on the bed first, then I'd go come in and sleep for a little, then take another caffeine pill to stay awake, then that would wear off and I'd sleep again for a little while.

Anyways, I could tell that Gaara wasn't happy with my forgetting our usual ritual. I sighed.

"Just crawl over me, would you? I'm not getting up." To my complete and utter surprise, Gaara did just that and went over me. And it seemed –although this is probably just my girl mind – that he stayed longer than necessary over me. I felt strangely giddy, and I didn't understand why. But as soon as that came, he was over on his side, looking at the wall and really tense.

* * *

><p><strong><em>SN:_**

**_Yes, there was a large timeskip -three whole years! -and yes, I'm getting to the Exams. _**

**_But, anyways, I think I kept you guys waiting long enough and decided to update. For translations:_**

**_Gochiosama deshita: Thank you for the meal (said after you eat)_**

**_Itadakimasu: I gratefully accept (said before you eat when you recieve your food)_**

**_And I believe that's the only thing you may have had trouble with, so enough of that. If you need anything more, just ask me in a review or PM (Reviews are faster, loves) and I'll get right back to you as soon as possible with an answer. _**

**_So, review, lovelies, or I will wait even longer to update :D_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**S/N:  
>Hullo! Well, for something's you may not know about the Japanese language!<strong>_

_**Alright, let's begin:**_

_**Otou-san: Dad**_

_**Okaa-san: Mom**_

_***blank*: Shows intimacy in a relationship that is acknowledged by both persons. If you say a name with no suffix and there is no intimacy in the relationship, it's very insulting. **_

_**Kun: familiar boy**_

_**Chan: familiar girl**_

_**San: one you don't know well. Formal.**_

_**Sama: Lord or lady, more formal than 'San'.**_

_**Dono: More formal and used for people above 'Sama' level.**_

* * *

><p><em>I was lying down, facing Gaara, my cheeks were red and my heart was accelerating at an ungodly speed. I scooted closer, and he continued to stare at me, then, in a second, he was lying on top of me, while I was facing upwards, gazing star struck into his beautiful eyes. His face lowered towards mine as his lips-<em>

I bolted upright in bed, panting as cold sweat graced my brow. I fumbled with the sheets, falling to the floor and grabbed my medicine bottle with shaky hands, failing to open the lid in my haste. I couldn't get a firm hold on it to get it off, and I was starting to get frustrated. Then, the bottle was taken out of my hands by Gaara and a pill was held in front of my mouth. I gulped; not taking my eyes off of it as I held my hand out, the extremity was trembling.

"Open your mouth," Gaara commanded and I meekly did as I was told at the medicine was thrown onto my tongue as I swallowed, "Why are you so jittery?"

"I, uh, um," I paused, getting my bearings. I still wouldn't look at him, "I had a bad dream." That was a lie. It wasn't a bad dream, it was pleasantly good and made me feel happy, but that didn't mean I enjoyed having a dream about my charge that wasn't platonic.

Gaara grunted again, still sitting on the edge of the bed, I rubbed my arm, feeling my smooth skin. So much for my awesome plan, the caffeine only made me terribly jittery. My hands –which had already been shaking, started trembling violently with the added artificial rush of energy. I thought about my dream and how it correlated with the _other_ one. At least this time I wasn't as naïve and stopped it before it reached… _that_ point.

"Um, so, uh," I was having trouble finding words to say to him, and racked my brain for something to say, "has my package arrived yet?" I remembered our escapade to the weapons store earlier and decided that was a reasonable excuse, and might make me forget all about the dream. But, by thinking about the stores' owner, I felt angry –enraged at how he treated Gaara. It never ceased to amaze me how rude they were and how the citizens of Suna never stopped to think about how they were affecting him as a person. Even the Kobayashi's back in Naibun hadn't been that rude, and they are our first defense. The people here shunned him, and looked at him with utter disdain, and I didn't understand _how_ they could do that. I got why they did –it's because he's the host of Shukaku, but I don't get why they feel the need to. It's rude and it's not like they gain anything from bullying him. I frowned, but I knew that my mask covered it up. The fabric covered from the tip of my nose down and hooked onto the fishnet underneath. Although, since I'm still wearing my non-mission mask, there isn't any fishnet fabric –Just some string.

"Yes, it's over there," Gaara stated. I murmured a small 'Arigato' before walking over to the dresser on wobbly legs, picking up the brown paper wrapped cardboard box. I tore at the wrapper ten ripped open the lid, looking upon my weapons of mass destruction. 40 shiny kunai were stacked neatly in the box.

"Good, now we're all ready for our trip to Naibun tomorrow!" I exclaimed with mock happiness. It's not that I wasn't excited to see Naibun after being away all these years, I'm just not that ecstatic about a week long journey with the object of _that_ dream. Of course I know _why_ he has to come, but still. It's like the Kazekage hates me or something. I know that he doesn't expect that I would ever be unprofessional or anything since I grew up in an assassin village, but I'm not an ice block like his son. I have feelings, and I know when there's an extremely hot guy. And I happen to be protecting the poster child of extremely hot guys. I know that he wouldn't understand how the female mind works, but I feel very attracted to the redhead.

I mean… not what I just said!

Denial is a happy place…~

"We aren't leaving tomorrow, we're leaving at midnight," Gaara voiced. I spun around, almost letting a kunai fly.

"WHAT?" I screeched, putting my hands in my hair and pulling.

He grunted, not at all fazed by my extreme lack of enthusiasm. What did he expect me to do? Jump around in joy and start clapping like Isamu's over obsessive fangirls? I yanked on my shoes, tying the straps that looped over the top of my fee. I really like my o

"I'm going to go and, uh, get changed." I ran into the closet and quickly got out of my pajamas and into my ninja uniform. I yanked on my shoes, tying the straps that looped over the top of my fee. It hadn't really changed that much, just that my mask was attacked to fishnet under armor as opposed to my top. And my old capris had turned into shorts that went a little above my knees, and of course, how the symbol on my hitai-ate turned into Suna's. But other than the picture change, the placing was still the same –right on my waist and keeping my kimono top closed partly. You see, the top wasn't as high as it was before, since I now had fishnet underclothes, I didn't have to wear layers of fabric and therefore, I didn't need to keep it up. Besides, my mask fabric went down very far, and so the gap at the top of my kimono shirt only opened to expose just above the base of my chest and no skin actually showed. I'm very fond of it, and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make it different drastically.

I walked out of the closet and started to almost panic, "Yay… Naibun… yay…" I knew I didn't sell the happiness-act very well.

"You aren't happy about going to your home-village," Gaara observed, "Why not?"

"Nothing," I said fidgeting and pulling on my hair, then realizing my half-minded mistake, "I mean, no reason. I just had a freaky dream and it's hard to forget and yeah…"

His eyes narrowed, "Hn."

I spun back around and put my hands on the kunai, "I'm going to load up on my new kunai!" I quickly started placing the knives all over my person.

I started to feel awkward as I never felt Gaara's eyes leave me as I continued to hide weapons, "I really can't wait to go to Naibun. That's when my Otou-san will release my kekkei genkai and I'll get a summoning!" I smiled gleefully as I remembered the reason we were actually going. Maybe I could convince Okaa-san to let me try and summon the Kon-Kyuuban! It was dangerous, but I really wanted to try. It was my ambition ever since I was a baby and I heard stories about their abilities. If I got them to work with me, then I could impress the Kazekage and Midori-sensei!

"You seem excited now," Gaara commented, noticing my change in behavior, "You are over your dream." Gaara doesn't ask questions. He states what he thinks is obvious. I paused, that wasn't true. How could I get over that dream? It's not like I could easily forget something like that. Temari had told me that those dreams would haunt me unless I made them real. And then they'd get worse. I had asked her how she knew and she said it was obvious. But I still nagged and she said she assumed that because she was saving herself for someone special, she just assumed what was apparent. I guess that runs in the family.

Well, since I couldn't have that fantasy come true, I'd just have to try really hard and forget all about it. I pressed my lips together and started packing away the kunai with more fervor –shoving and pushing them into the nooks and crannies of my uniform until there was nothing left to cram. I turned around to face Gaara.

"I want to go and say goodbye to my team," I said, inwardly cringing at how demanding that sounded. Gaara doesn't like to be told what to do.

_**~*U*~**_

It had turned out that I had slept longer than I had expected. By the time I convinced Gaara to let me go –the demanding tone of my voice had made him slightly pissed (the brat)– it was already 9pm. We had walked Midori-sensei's house that she shared with her fiancé, Ohayashi Kaito. I knocked on the door and moments later Ohayashi opened it with a yawn. He was still in his ninja clothes and looked pretty tired. His brow was smudged with dirt and his long black bangs were plastered to his face with sweat. He glared at me with turquoise eyes.

"Who're you?" he asked then his eyes flashed to Gaara and widened as he cracked a smile, "Hey! I know you!"

"Um, what?" I had never met him before, I'd just seen the picture Midori-sensei had proudly showed us on our first day together as a team.

"Yeah! You're that Gaara kid's girl! Got the whole village buzzin' kiddo!"

My face reddened as I started making noises of shock and disapproval. As soon as I was able to make comprehensible words, the best thing popped out of my mouth, "E-Excuse me?" I saw Gaara close his eyes as a pained expression over took his face. I stepped back and grabbed his hand, trying to be comforting, "W-What made you think…?"

Kaito glanced over us with a knowing –Knowing? –look as he chuckled, "Well, you're always with him, and the way you look at the little demon… I see, I see, my dear girl, I see all!" He began to cackle evilly. Midori-sensei joined him in the door and sighed.

"What's wrong with you, Kaito?"

He grinned and pinched her cheek, "Ah~ you know I'm a romantic~" Midori removed his hand scowling and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I thought you were going to shower and coming to bed. I could've gotten the door."

"But then I wouldn't have met the jinchuuriki's girlfriend!"

Midori-sensei flicked his nose, "She's my student and isn't the kid's girlfriend."

Kaito rubbed his nose and started huffing, then pointed at us, "Their _holding hands!_"

"We held hands before we were together," Midori-sensei stated. Even though she meant to put his theory down, it didn't make me feel better because she and Kaito _did_ get together.

"Well yeah," he rolled his eyes and bent over so that his face was in hers, "but the boy's not doing anything about it."

"Oh… you're right," Midori-sensei looked over us again then turned back to her fiancée, "Go get a shower and get changed, Kaito, you must be exhausted from your mission."

"Alright, as long as you join me soon~"

"Always, my ANBU," she cooed, then kicked him in the ass and closed the door behind him, joining us on the porch, "Finally got rid of the bastard. Gomensai for his behavior… he's just… Kaito."

"Yeah, it's fine," I said, squeezing Gaara's hand. When I didn't get a response, I glanced over and saw that his eyes were shut, his expression tense and the side of his mouth twitching.

"So, what are you doing here?" she cocked a perfectly groomed brown eyebrow as she looked down at me.

"I came to say goodbye before I leave," I answered solemnly.

"Aren't you going tomorrow?"

"Kazekage-sama moved our departure to tonight."

Midori sensei shrugged, although I could tell she was annoyed, "I guess I understand. You'll need to be back as soon as possible so that we can work on our strategy. With the new techniques you'll be coming back with the team will need all the time we can get to rework our battle plans. Do you have any idea what you'll be receiving, so that I can try and think it over in your absence?"

I shook my head, "Not at all. The Takaki kekkei genkai is so weird and spread over a vast amount of things, it's impossible to tell."

She grunted, putting her hand on her chin, "Hm, what about a summoning?"

I shrugged, "I don't know about that either. My father won't tell me until after I get my kekkei genkai."

Sensei scowled, and even it's an expression of irritation, she made it look beautiful and she still looked perfect.

"Mi-chan! Hurry _up_! I'm ready for our _activities_~" Kaito called from inside. Midori's face pinked and she started waving her hands.

"I'm so sorry about him, he's very… tough to manage, I'll see you when you get back, Ama-chan, good night!" she then opened the door slightly and slammed it in our faces.

I backed up, tugging Gaara along, "You know… I kind of like Kaito…"

Gaara muttered something in response, but it was so quiet, I couldn't make it out.

"What? I couldn't hear you."

"Of course you'd like someone like that," he said through gritted teeth, his eyes still shut. I was starting to get worried. Was the idea of being my boyfriend really that bad? I frowned and looked down at the ground as we walked to Yasu's house.

"Gaara-kun, are you ok?" I asked him, ignoring the first comment and focusing on his strained state.

"I'm fine," he said. His eyes still not opening as he started to twitch.

"You're having a conniption."

"Amaterasu…"

"What?"

"Why are you bothered about being called my 'girl' when you make it obvious every day that you like me?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>SN: **_

_**Ah... painfully short -_-'**_

_**I actually had a whole lot more hand written out, but then I decided that this was a wonderful place to make a chapter break, so I did. :P I bet you guys love me right now :D**_

_**So anyways, I'll make up for the shortness next chapter when I get the chance to write. I'm going to be slightly busy because of a family traditional gathering thing, so that will take up most of the day. So review, and maybe I'll try and make time during my hectic schedule to write some in my nifty little fic journal. :D**_


	4. Chapter 4

"What?" I screeched, my jaw dropping as I started to splutter out incomprehensible words. Gaara stared at me, an indecipherable look in his light eyes. How could he ask that? What did he mean? I just -I don't! –I can't -…

Gah!

"Why does it bother you, Amaterasu?" Gaara asked once more, his eyes boring a hole through my very soul.

"B… Because it's not true!" that's the first thing that popped into my mind. In hindsight, that's most likely not the best response I could have come up with.

Gaara frowned deeply, his nails digging into my hand as he pulled my face close to his. "No."

I couldn't help the blush rise into my cheeks –luckily, my mask covers it!

"What?" I asked again. Did he seriously just say 'No'?

"You're _mine_," he rasped, "Only mine."

My heart rate was rapid as I stared at him, not comprehending what he was saying.

"Gaara, I'm not a possession," I started, "I'm a person."

"You were assigned to protect me so you're mine until you leave."

"But that's my entire life!"

"Exactly."

I gave him a look of disbelief however he didn't get the full affect because all he could see were my eyes and eyebrows. I get slightly put off by the fact that he can't grasp how I'm feeling because he can't see the entirety of my face. Because Gaara's not the type of person to understand someone by the look they have in their eye, he can't usually tell what I'm feeling. I think that's why he doesn't understand that I'm in love with him yet. Well, it's either that or because he's so incredibly dense when it comes to anything about people other than himself. Hell, he doesn't even understand himself sometimes. I had to _explain_ to him what happiness was when we were 10, and I still don't think he could grasp what I was trying to say!

"Look Gaara," I sighed, rubbing my brow as I tried to come up with a way to say this, "I want to get married. I want to have children. I want more in my life than being your servant, ok? I have feelings. Even though I'm a cold assassin, I'm not an ice block. At least, not anymore. Someone melted me." Here, I gave him a pointed glance –one that sort of _whooshed _over his cranium, "I'm not heartless, like you."

Gaara's beautiful face held no emotion as he remained stoic. Although –now I might be imagining this –but I think that I glimpsed a tightening around his mouth and a taken aback look in his eyes as I said this.

What? Did he think that I'm so cold I don't want what every other girl wants? And how the hell can he not know that I was talking about him when I said all of those things? What's with this guy? He makes me so angry sometimes that I don't know what to do.

He turned around on his heel and began walking in the other direction –towards the village gates. I looked around behind me towards Yasu and Isamu's homes, then back at Gaara, then back again. I know that I should bid them farewell since I haven't yet, but I also have a yearning to be with Gaara. To me, by the flutter in my heart, I know that this isn't just a mission anymore. I want to be with him, I want to be by his side no matter what. I want to marry _him_. I want to always be near him, and it hurts me to know that he won't feel that way about me.

I bit my lip then sped after Gaara.

"Gaara!" I called, quickly catching up to his slowly walking form, "Gaara. Yasu's house is the other way! Please Gaara, do this for me. I'm giving up my life for you, please do this for me."

"I live only for myself."

"That doesn't mean someone can't live for you."

He stared at me from over his shoulder, his body still facing away. I could see the utterly confused look in his lovely, moonlit eyes as he asked, "You would die for me? Give up your very existence?"

"Yes," I answered truthfully, without any hesitation, "I live for _you _Gaara. I live for you in the way that you live for yourself. I kill for you. I will _always_ live for you, so please, just this once, do something for me."

The redheaded Jinchuuriki didn't give me a verbal response as he inwardly weighed his options, thinking over what I had just said before turning and walking past me, our shoulders brushing towards Yasu's home. I grinned happily and jumped up in the air, fist-pumping. I didn't make any noise as I celebrated. Maybe, just maybe –I broke through a part of his façade! Maybe he's _this_ much closer to becoming a caring person! I know it, I can feel it. Somewhere inside of him, something's changed since we were nine.

"Aren't we going so you can bid your teammates farewell?"

This stopped me in mid-jump as I lowered myself to the ground. "Right!" I exclaimed, then ran, once more to catch up to the standing Gaara. Together, we continued walking down the dusty, cold street to Yasu's apartment. I call it an apartment because it's not that large. I've only been inside once, and, basically, there's a kitchen, dining room and living room all put together, than a master bedroom for his parents, a small staircase to what should be the attic that's been renovated into Yasu's bedroom. It's a very comfy place, and sort of reminds me of the small housing that we have back in Naibun. There, we live in the trees, camouflaged into the landscape so no one can see us. It's a lot different than Suna's large, open spaces.

"It's really late," I told Gaara, "So I'll just knock on Yasu's window instead of the door. We were pretty lucky when Kaito-san opened up."

Gaara nodded his permission to me –even though I would have gone without it –so I surged the chakra into my feet and ran up the side of the building made out of densely packed dirt. I got to his smallish window and knocked on it, trying to see into Yasu's dark room –with little success before he opened the window, almost hitting me in the face.

"What the hell, Takaki?" he snarled, his usually straight hair was sticking up and a light robe was haphazardly thrown over his shoulders, his left arm still trying to reach behind himself to get into the sleeve. He sighed and stepped away from the window.

I grinned at him, "Hi Yasu! I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to be gone for a little while. I'm going to go back to my home village so that my father can release my Kekkei Genkai. Don't worry though; I'll come back before the exams so that we have a chance to work on our strategies."

He nodded then invited me in, "Would you like something to drink? My parents are out on a mission right now, so I can always come and let you and Sabaku in through the front door."

"Seriously?" I asked. Yasu nodded.

"I'd love that! Thanks Yasu!" I propelled myself away from the window and flipped down next to Gaara. I turned towards my client, "Apparently Yasu's parents aren't home so he's going to let both of us inside."

Gaara gave me a look, and I could see in his eyes that he didn't want to go in. He's never been invited to another human being's house. He's scared. He's confused. He doesn't know what to think. I grabbed his hand and rubbed it with my thumb, showing him a smile through my eyes. I pulled on the appendage and led him to Yasu's front door, which is now being opened for us to come inside. Yasu had tightened his robe around his shirtless body and showed us inside. He took out three glasses and poured in some cold water before handing them to Gaara and I.

"So," he plopped down in a chair and I sat down as well. Gaara stood at my side, not taking the glass. Yasu sipped his drink, "you're going back to your home village, eh, Takaki?"

I nodded, "Yeah, well, it's not exactly a village. It's just my clan. We live not too far from here, just about a week's journey."

"I see," Yasu said, "I hope you have a safe journey and that everything works out okay for you. You haven't seen your family in quite some time, huh?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. It's not like I was ever really connected to them. Since we have such a high death rate, we Takaki's have learned to sever our bonds at a moment's notice."

"Interesting," Yasu muttered than yawned, a hand over his mouth as he turned towards Gaara, "Hey, Sabaku."

"Hn?"

"I'm sorry I never stood up for you when we were kids."

Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow, "Hn?"

"I was never scared of you; I was just always busy practicing my Genjutsu, so I never really paid attention to what was happening in reality. I knew that some people didn't like you, but my head was wrapped up so much in my own fake worlds that I didn't understand the severity of that hate until much later. After Takaki came to live with your family."

"You were always kind of spacy in school," I murmured, remembering how Yasu, like Gaara was a loner, and never paid attention in class. He always had a strange, glazed look in his eyes. Now, I understand why and so does Gaara. I used to make remarks about how weird it was that he never seemed to focus on anything. Not until a few months had gone by did I find out that no, he wasn't blind, just a daydreamer. Even with his uncaring attitude, girls would fawn over him and his good looks. Although, Isamu was always the favorite. His personality reminded the girls of Sunagakure of the sun, while they thought Yasu represented the shadows that dapple the ground in the Fire Country.

Gaara didn't know how to take this information, and just stared at Yasu, his face stoic, but his eyes asking all the questions he'd never be able to voice. Yasu, who understood, just smiled slightly at Gaara. Before stretching.

"Well," my teammate started, "I should head off to bed. I'm not able to function without a good amount of sleep. I'll see you later Takaki and Sabaku." Yasu led the two of us to the door and opened it, politely waiting to close the aperture. Gaara and I walked on for a little bit.

"Isamu next," I muttered to the redhead beside me, "Great."

"You don't like him," Gaara stated and I stared at him.

"That's only partially correct," I informed him, he stared at me, "I think he has a good personality, but I hate him for what he's done to you."

Gaara's gaze urged me on.

"I know that he was one of the main bullies back when you were younger, and he's done the most damage to you. That's what I don't like about him. I don't like his narrow-mindedness and his lack of acceptance for those that are different than him. I think that he should have realized that it's not your fault that you're a Jinchuuriki. It's not your fault that you have Shukaku inside of you. It's Sunagakure's fault, and as a member of this village, he's responsible as well. Your father sealed Shukaku inside of you, yet, as he is the Kazekage, his actions reflect those of the village and therefore, the village is the reason for the demon's imprisonment inside of you. So, yes, you're right, I don't like a lot of what Isamu is, but I do like his ability to bounce back and always come up with something humorous to say."

Gaara was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I punish the village for what they have done to me. I kill them because they put Shukaku inside of me. He yearns for their blood and I willingly feed it to him through my sand, giving him more power."

I nodded, "I really don't blame you. The people that reside here have done a lot of horrible things to you, and it's only natural to want revenge –and you have a good reason for doing so –so that you can strengthen Shukaku."

Gaara nodded, but didn't respond. I sighed then walked to Isamu's door, knocking on it. His mother, a very pretty woman with light purple hair and green eyes opened it up; she looked me up and down before laying eyes on Gaara. She quickly began to shut the door, but I stopped it with my foot.

"I'm Takaki Amaterasu; I'm on Isamu's team under Midori-sensei. I've come to give him an important message that will affect our team for a few weeks. Midori-sensei told me to explain it to him directly."

"I see," Mrs. Nakashima said, and then yelled upstairs, "Akira! Get Isamu!"

A little girl's voice, which was barely heard yelled, "ISAMU! OKAA-SAN NEEDS TO TALK TO YOU!"

There was a pounding on the staircase and Isamu appeared beside his mom in the doorway. He grinned when he saw me, "Hey Ama-chan!"

"Hello Isamu," I replied politely. Mrs. Nakashima stepped out of the doorway and Isamu walked outside, closing the door behind him. He sighed a bit when he saw Gaara.

"What's up?" he asked me.

"I'm going to be leaving tonight to go and see my clan so that they can release my Kekkei Genkai. I won't be around for a few days so I wanted to tell you, Yasu, and Midori-sensei why I wouldn't be in practice tomorrow since I was planning on leaving around midday."

His eyes widened slightly, then he pouted, "Damn it! Why do you have to leave so soon, Ama-chan?" Sand started to shift around my feet and Gaara stared at the side of my face. "So you're saying that you're going to be alone with _that_ for a long time? No fair!"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "I'd rather be alone in the desert with Gaara than with you who'd I'd end up stabbing with my Chakra Blade. You really need to control yourself, people are going to find that annoying in your later life."

He gaped at me, "What…? That's not nice Ama-chan!"

"You're not nice to Gaara, so why should I repay that behavior with kindness?"

"You are _way _too fond of the Monster, Takaki-chan," Isamu's eyes were hard. "It's not right."

"How is it not right? You can't tell me what to feel or think. I'm a real human being, not some robot that's being programmed to follow the rest of Suna's populace with blind hatred."

"Are you saying that I don't know anything about the demon?"

"Exactly, you've never taken the time to try and get to know Gaara, and frankly, your behavior appalls me."

"I know the Shukaku better than you do."

"And Gaara knows him better than you. They are two separate entities sharing one body, alright? They are not the same person. Shukaku's crimes are not Gaara's. Think about it some. Gaara is an involuntary host, and nothing more. Would you want to have a bloodthirsty demon caged inside of you? No. So stop blaming him," Great. Now the claws have come out.

"Whatever," Isamu snapped, walking into his house, "I'll see you whenever, Ama-chan." Then, he slammed the door in my face.

* * *

><p><strong>Drama! Duh, duh, duuuuuuh! I hope you've enjoyed this <em>extremely<em> late update. I'm very sorry. My apologies. I've had this written for months, but never got around to posting it. I have now though, so review. **


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